Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran, says that in the last 60 years of Fiji's democracy, only 49 women have been elected to Parliament, while only 31 of them completed a full four-year term due to the various political upheavals the country has experienced.
Speaking during the Parliament Speaker's Debate 2026 at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Kiran questioned why, after 60 years of parliamentary democracy, the country is still discussing the need to increase women's representation in Parliament.
She says women currently hold just 9.1 percent of the seats in Parliament, with only five women among the 55 Members of Parliament.
Kiran says Fiji now ranks 165th out of 181 countries for women's representation in Parliament, below the global average of 27 percent and the Pacific average of 11.6 percent.
She adds that women held 16 percent of parliamentary seats in 2014, the figure rose to 19.6 percent in 2018, before falling to 10.9 percent and now standing at 9.1 percent.
The Minister says women have consistently made up only a small proportion of candidates, accounting for between 16 and 24 percent of candidate lists across the last three general elections.
Kiran says increasing the number of women on candidate lists is one way to boost women's participation in Parliament.
She says gender quotas and a review of existing laws are other measures that could help increase the number of women in Parliament.
Insert: Kiran on women, 6th Aug 26
